Contact me: kristina@kristinajoy.com

About Kristina Joy

My first serious encounter with art began when I was 14 years old with watercolor. This experience brought me to study at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design,

After I graduated I immersed myself in the world of coloring with crayons by studying under Don Marco, a master crayon artist. Afterwards, I opened a crayon gallery in the DeWitt Seitz Marketplace building for a few years. And then I became an art teacher at Xavier College Preparatory High School in Phoenix, AZ. After years of coloring with crayons, I then branched out in 2018 by learning to paint with oils. Now I currently paint oil originals from my home in Duluth, MN.

Both mediums have been instrumental in my art formation. They each provide distinct benefits. Oils, for example, provide for better color mixing, the potential to make large pieces. And crayons provide a distinctiveness that oils do not, as well as the opportunity to create wherever I am. Plus, crayons were instrumental in me learning how to draw and layer colors. Nowadays it is rare that I pick up a crayon these days because I love to paint so much. However, I do have a few crayon drawings you can see. CLICK HERE to view my past Crayola crayon art.

The majority of my works are influenced by nature. Landscapes, plants and even animals are subjects I relish. I do accept commissions of all sizes. Simply email me for custom work.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I hope to bring healing, inspiration, refreshment and rejuvenation to others through my oil paintings, And I intend to accomplish this through the contemplation of nature.

Nature is a source of healing and my artwork gives people an opportunity to experience it at a glance. Frida Kahlo and Georgia O’Keefe are artists from the past who have influenced my artwork. And I am also proud to continue the tradition of post-impressionism with my impressionistic strokes and colorful artist palette.

I’ve long been attracted to organic shapes in nature, and their influence on the human psyche. What starts out as a moment of time looking at a leaf or stem or piece of fruit, becomes finessed into a carnival of new things to contemplate in every nook and cranny of that object. What is left is a relief – stillness – that brings a hyper-awareness of what is and what may be in the future. Through emergent applications of brushstroke of color over canvas, I anticipate the viewer experiencing a hymn devoid of the frenetic pace and cacophony of modern living.

I envision a world re-focused on what is true and noble. Art enables us to do this. Viewers are required to do nothing except take in my paintings and allow the paintings to do the work of extracting him/her from present consciousness in order to bask in a suspended hold within nature to rest.

The technique in creating my paintings is not in quick movements or fast application. Rather, it is slow, and at times meticulous, plodding along despite any outside pressure to hurry up. My technique of slow brushwork matches the message of the paintings. And although the viewer cannot see the brushwork application, they do see its results. From feedback from viewers, this slow application is infused in the very sensation of experiencing the paintings.